Roberto De Zerbi: ‘Lyon are a competitor to Marseille’ | OneFootball

On Sunday evening, Olympique de Marseille will travel to the Groupama Stadium to face Olympique Lyonnais for one of the biggest clashes in the French calendar.

More than bragging rights will be on the line, with Marseille keen to lay down an early marker to their campaign and position themselves as Paris Saint-Germain’s biggest contenders while Lyon want to use this match to kickstart their season with a statement victory before their Europa League fixture with Olympiacos.

Roberto De Zerbi was wary of the challenge that the Choc des Olympiques would provide his Les Phocéens. The manager stated, “It’s clear that Lyon are a strong team. When you think of their players… Alexandre Lacazette, Nemanja Matić. There are a lot of players Corentin Tolisso, a lot of good players, so it’s really a competitor to Marseille […] It’s a team to respect and it’s an important match in France.”

The Italian manager was keen to also highlight the unique situation that his Marseille side will face against Lyon with the French government announcing that Les Phocéens would be without their travelling support on Thursday morning. Clashes between the two rivals have become flashpoints in recent seasons and Sunday’s match has been classified as high-risk with Marseille supporters unallowed to attend the game or be in the vicinity of the stadium.

GFFN | Nick Hartland